


Beta

by CommaSplice



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fanfiction of Fanfiction, Fluff and Crack, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-20
Updated: 2015-02-20
Packaged: 2018-03-13 21:05:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3396308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CommaSplice/pseuds/CommaSplice
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After becoming obsessed by the wildly popular nighttime PBS drama, <i>Summerhall</i>, Cersei starts writing fan fiction only to find that she requires the assistance of a beta reader. Internet anonymity proves a blessing and a curse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Beta

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tafkar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tafkar/gifts).



> This is set in the same universe as these short stories: [Tumblr Famous](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1313767/chapters/5036036), [Crowdsourcing](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1313767/chapters/5254397), and [Earwax Kink](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1313767/chapters/6959471). I don’t think it will make a difference if you haven’t read those. Essentially, due to a variety of circumstances in those little ficlets, Cersei and Robert are in therapy and have taken some extreme steps when it comes to trying to "fix" their parenting. Also, Cersei has discovered the appeal of Tumblr and fallen deep into fanfiction. I have taken terrific liberties with the tragedy at Summerhall, but just pretend that the showrunners of the show in this ‘verse are less than interested in the source material.

* * *

Summerhall forum post in “fic rec thread”:

_> >>I am getting desperate for any Jenny/Lyonel fic. I am even willing to go on fanfiction.net. Recs?_

_> >Just finished “Summerhall Madness” by Red_Lioness – I know she’s tagged twenty characters. Ignore that, it’s totally Jenny/Lyonel-centric. The premise is good and the smut is HOT. Too bad the author has a minimal understanding of punctuation and doesn’t know the difference between their, they’re and there._

_> Yeah, why don’t more people use a beta? I don’t get it. _

* * *

Cersei googled “beta” and read over the results. None of them sounded at all likely until she tapped out “fanfiction” next to it. Her instinct was to go to Tyrion or Tommen with these sorts of questions, but she couldn’t imagine what her brother would do if he found out she had written what fandom called smut (even if it was tastefully written erotica) and she certainly couldn’t ask her twelve-year-old about it either.

She _had_ used spell check for her story. Cersei had casually asked Tyrion when a few words and phrases had come into the Common Tongue. And when Jaime had been strangely unwilling to meet up with her (he was acting so distant lately), Cersei had even made Robert try a few specific positions with her so that she could be sure of the blocking. Not that he knew why. But it had actually been one of their better couplings. His recent weight loss made him look more attractive than he had in years and now that Robert was not drinking anymore, he had actually been careful not to hurt her. It wasn’t as good as it was with Jaime—it never was—but it had not been unpleasant.

But for all of her efforts, her story, “Summerhall Madness” had only received one comment, a few hundred hits, and ten “kudos,” all of them from “guests.” Clearly they were cowards or they would have left kudos from their own accounts. 

Cersei read several entries about beta readers. As much as it galled her that these stupid posters couldn’t see how good her story was, perhaps there was something to be said for getting a little polish to her story. Now the question was where to get someone—someone who could be trusted not to take her work and claim it as their own. 

As she poked around the Summerhall forums, Cersei came across a thread entitled: beta readers. There were a number of entries, but most of them seemed unlikely to be of use to her: “Common Tongue not my first language;” “No het, watersports, mod aus, or dub con” (Cersei was doing a lot of Googling these days); “Good with characterization, but copy editing not my strong suit.” Cersei needed no help with characterization; she understood these characters perfectly, thank you very much. And while her story did not involve anything as disgusting as “watersports” and was set in canon, it was very much “het” and she supposed, if she wanted to be completely honest, that it flirted with the notion of “dub con.”

One entry, though, jumped out at her:

_I am able to provide assistance with spelling, grammar, punctuation, and characterization. I will not edit works involving sexual acts between minors, rape, or torture beyond what is already established in canon. Excepting these, I have no restrictions as to content. –Proudwing_

It was the handle that resonated with her: Proudwing. Proudwing was the author of several of Cersei’s favorite stories, including a particularly erotic saga involving the forbidden and doomed relationship between Duncan and Barristan or “DunBar” as some of the fans called it. Before falling into the Summerhall fandom, Cersei would never have imagined herself at all interested in that sort of thing, but she was beginning to see the appeal. And unlike half the stories she’d read, which appeared to be authored by teenage girls and idiots, Proudwing understood how sex worked; whoever Proudwing was, she wasn’t a virgin. At least, Cersei assumed the author was a woman. Very few men, it seemed, were in the Summerhall fandom.

Cersei tapped her fingers against the mouse as she debated what to do. Her sole commenter, “High-Heart’s-Ghost,” had loved her story, so much so that she’d followed her on Tumblr and sent her actual fan mail—her first and only fan mail. Cersei directed a sour gaze at Ser Pounce, who sat atop the printer positively smirking at her. It galled her that her son’s cat had more followers on Tumblr than Cersei could ever dream of having.

High-Heart’s-Ghost was firmly entrenched in the fandom, Cersei knew. She wrote, and although most of her literary efforts involved Jenny/Ghost of High Heart, she read widely. Perhaps, she might know something of Proudwing personally. Certainly it would do no harm to contact her on Tumblr and see what the woman knew.

* * *

Tumblr fanmail to High-Heart’s-Ghost  
 _. . . Have you ever worked with a beta reader? What do they do exactly? I understand they edit your stories, but how precisely? Do you know anything about “Proudwing?” Is she honest? I don’t want anyone taking credit for my story.–Red-Lioness_

* * *

Sansa finished scrolling back and decided to tackle the mess in her ask box. Since turning off anons, the volume had gone way down. At least it was manageable now and at least she didn’t have trolls baiting her about what was clearly a canon relationship between Jenny and the woods witch.

Sansa wrote replies, carefully queuing them and then looked at Red Lioness’ fan mail. She had a good idea what had prompted the query about a beta reader; Sansa had seen the fic rec thread on the forums and the comments that had followed. Red Lioness was a total newbie. She only had to look at her Tumblr to tell that, but Sansa had enjoyed the story and thought she had potential. 

_Hi! I am so glad you wrote back! What did you think about the last episode? I KNEW that Ser Lyonel was up to no good. This is the one show that’s appointment TV for me and waiting each week is killing me!_

_So in answer to your question, I ALWAYS use a beta. Betas are great. Even if you’re a good writer, you’re looking at your story so closely that you don’t always see the mistakes. Some betas are really good if you write in canon. My beta is WoodsyWitch, but she’s kind of swamped right now or I’d suggest her._

This wasn’t exactly true. The problem was that Woodsy hated, really hated, Ser Lyonel and there was no way that she would ever willingly read, let alone beta read anything involving Jenny and him. And Jenny and Lyonel was Red Lioness’ OTP.

“You put that back, Rickon!”

“Will not, dumbass!” Bran shouted.

Sansa sighed, shut her door, and went back to the message. 

_I don’t think anyone would ever steal your story. The Summerhall community would have your back on this. **I** would have your back. Trust me. I don’t know Proudwing personally, but I asked around for you. She’s supposed to be really great. The worst anyone said was that she was a tough editor, but I think that’s good, right? Like when you get a paper back from your teacher and it’s all marked up. Once you put the corrections in, it’s SO MUCH better. _

Sansa wasn’t much into m/m and she didn’t care much for the DunBar ship, but Proudwing’s stories were usually pretty high in kudos and comments and she’d downloaded a couple herself and had enjoyed them. Aside from being kind of nitpicky and really, really passionate about Duncan and Barristan on the boards, Proudwing seemed pretty cool to her. 

_As far as the how, I think people work it differently. Some people use Google Docs. I use Word and email an attachment to my beta. I look over what she suggests and usually I make the edits. Sometimes I don’t. Some people send it back again, but I’ve never done that. You should totally ask all these questions of whoever you pick. What’s your next fic about? Is it another Jenny/Lyonel? Is it a multi? Please, tell me it’s a multi._

Her mother rapped on the door. “Sansa, I need you to get your laundry out of the dryer now, please.”

She sighed. “Yes, mum.”

_I have to go. I cannot wait till I have a place of my own. Let me know if I can help you with anything else! –High-Heart’s-Ghost_

* * *

Summerhall forum private message to Red_Lioness from Proudwing:

_In answer to your query, I prefer to work in Microsoft Word and I use track changes. After receiving your message, I have read your story on Archive of Our Own so there will be no need for you to send me a writing sample. What is the word count of your current story? Is it a work in progress? What type of feedback do you wish me to provide? I have commitments that would preclude me from editing it for two weeks, but I believe I can find the time after that. My email is Proud_Wing@westerosmail.com and going forward, I prefer to communicate in that fashion. Thank you._

* * *

Stannis eyed the clock. Selyse would be playing “Battle for the Dawn” on her computer in her office destroying wights and White Walkers. He could tell because periodically she would forget and start yelling, “Die! Die! Why won’t you die!?” Stannis didn’t object. She was always very relaxed afterward and his wife didn’t say anything about all the time he spent writing.

He had written 750 words of his latest work and now he turned to the effort of Red Lioness. Generally he preferred to read the draft in its entirety before editing, but after a few sentences, his fingers began to twitch. Gritting his teeth, he stilled his hand and forced himself to focus and merely read. 

Red Lioness had been very clear that she did not want help with characterization, but Stannis spotted several problems immediately. As erotic as Jenny taking control in a sexual encounter with Ser Lyonel was, he questioned how and when the character would have acquired such specialized knowledge in the era in which Summerhall was set. And as he read over the next paragraph, Stannis wondered if the implements mentioned were in use at the time. He could research it for Red Lioness. It was perhaps fortunate that he knew how to erase his Internet history. 

Aside from these issues, though, the draft would require considerable editing. Red Lioness employed punctuation marks as afterthoughts and had great difficulty with homophones. 

“Try and hide from me!” Selyse screeched from the other room. 

Stannis began marking up the document. Her first effort had been 2,000 words and this was scarcely longer than that. Still, he liked to take his time and he would need to consider how to word his critique of the characterizations. If Red Lioness expanded her story to explain Jenny’s enthusiasm and expertise in BDSM practices, it could be salvaged perhaps. Or alternatively, she could turn it into a modern AU. He would definitely need to explain to her just how some of the equipment she had chosen worked, as her knowledge was faulty. 

“Almost done?” 

He turned to find his wife standing in the doorway. Selyse and he had a compact. He said nothing about her gaming and she kept his fanfiction writing a secret. “Yes. Did you improve your score?”

She came in and peered at the monitor. “Thanks to dealing with Cersei over Myrcella’s name day party, yes. I just kept pretending every White Walker was her. Bondage, hmm?”

“I was beta reading,” Stannis explained as he saved the draft and turned off the computer. He could compose his comments later. For now perhaps, Selyse might be interested in testing out a few of the positions he had in mind for one of the het pairings in his WIP.

* * *

_Re: My story_  
 _To: Red_Lioness@westerosmail.com_  
 _From: Proud_Wing@westerosmail.com_

 _Attached please find the marked-up draft of “A Whip in Her Hands and Flowers in Her Hair.” If you require explanations on anything I will willingly provide them._  
_—Proudwing_

* * *

After days and days of waiting, Proudwing had finally returned her story. Cersei opened the attachment and quickly felt her jaw dropping and her ire rising. The manuscript was a sea of red. It was as if Proudwing had taken a knife and slashed it so badly the words were bleeding. No, bleeding wasn’t a strong enough word. It was hemorrhaging.

Cersei tried to remember what the anger management therapist had said. It was just a story. It was not life and death. Neither she nor her children were being harmed by this—not physically harmed. Some silly ninny who was probably only a year older than High-Heart’s-Ghost was simply jealous of her creativity and her brilliance and had taken it out on her. She would calm down and then she would see if High-Heart’s-Ghost might consent to beta read the fic. She should have thought of asking the girl in the first place. 

Fortunately, the cleaning woman would be arriving shortly and would need direction and supervision. Then Cersei had to make the arrangements for the party she and Robert would be throwing for Myrcella. And then the children would be home and she would have to help Tommen with his Tumblr. She had hours to calm down. Hours. Then she could send a blistering reply to Proudwing and explain the situation to High-Heart’s-Ghost. 

No, Cersei decided. She would send the message to High-Heart’s-Ghost now. 

By the time she was able to sit back down at the computer, the children and Robert were watching a _Nature_ documentary (no matter what Dr. Luwin said, Cersei remained suspect about their media consumption. PBS had wholesome, unobjectionable programming).

She checked her Tumblr first and sure enough, High-Heart’s-Ghost had left a reply. It was very sympathetic, but the girl could not, she wrote, be a beta, not right now. She had five AP exams coming up and her parents would have fits if she took on any extra work. She might be able to read it in a month or so.

Cersei reread the last bit. She had guessed that High-Heart’s-Ghost was young. Most of the people on Tumblr seemed to be in their early twenties, but she had not realized just how young the girl was. 

_I know it’s hard, but maybe you should see if the suggestions Proudwing made are any good? Like maybe it’s a lot of punctuation stuff? I know when I get my fics back from Woodsy, there’s always a lot of corrections. Maybe it’s not as bad as you think? I’m on Skype (same name, but no hyphens) if you need to chat. I have to be in bed by 11, though._

Almost as if she was afraid the software might bite her, Cersei reopened the document. Under the guise of some fictitious report for the Junior League, she had made Joffrey and then Tyrion explain Track Changes to her. Scowling, she remembered what Tyrion had told her and saved the document first, and then with a superhuman effort, she went through the suggested edits on the first paragraph.

As High-Heart’s-Ghost had suggested, these were purely grammatical changes, and by the third paragraph, Cersei felt her blood pressure returning to normal. Most of these seemed silly to her and she could have done without Proudwing’s explanations in comments as to why the edits were necessary, but it wasn’t quite the murder of her precious story that she had imagined. 

And then she came to a lengthy comment about a particular device. Here Proudwing had gone into considerable detail explaining how exactly it would be used. “I have checked,” Proudwing wrote, “and this did not come into existence until fifty years ago. May I suggest a substitution?” Cersei decided it would not be prudent to click the link, which Proudwing had marked as NSFW, not while Robert and the children were in the room. “The website has directions and I can give you more details if you require them.”

Cersei left the comment in place for now and then went through the rest of the changes. There were a few more words and phrases that Proudwing felt were anachronistic, but for the most part, she was relaxing as she accepted change after change. The story would be stronger. And this time, perhaps she would get more than one solitary little comment from a teenage girl. 

On the last page, Proudwing had written three long paragraphs. Cersei was in a much better state of mind to receive them, but she had specifically written her beta that she neither wanted nor needed characterization critique. 

“There’s a movie on TCM,” Robert said as _Nature_ came to an end. “It’s historical.”

Cersei glanced at the hopeful faces of her children. “Historical” from Robert could mean anything, Most likely, it meant half-naked harlots scampering around a medieval throne room. 

“ _Quest for Brightroar_ ,” Robert volunteered.

She considered. The name resonated with her. Father had watched it with them once back when she and her brothers had been children. Even if he had opined that the protagonist was a damned fool for running after a mythical Valyrian sword, he had not thought it objectionable for them to see. “That’s fine.” Cersei turned back to the three paragraphs. 

Either of the two solutions Proudwing suggested would require substantial rewriting. While Cersei had no objection to reading a mod au story—one of the very few Jenny/Lyonel fics she’d found had been set in a mod au—she wasn’t sure she wanted to write one. And the second option would be far more ambitious than anything she had undertaken before. Certainly, Cersei knew she could write it, but would she have the time?

Perhaps she should get a second opinion. Messaging High-Heart’s-Ghost, Cersei asked if the girl would be willing to simply read the story and see what she thought. Remembering that High-Heart’s-Ghost was a teenager, she hesitated before hitting submit, but then Cersei recalled some of the erotica the girl had written. This was no innocent little dove.

* * *

Skype exchange:  
 _High Heart’s Ghost: Wow, that was so hot. OMG, the smut. You are almost making me ship them and you know that Jenny/woods witch is my OTP. But that bit with the whip. OMG._  
 **fans self ******

_Red Lioness: But what do you think about her suggestions?_

_High Heart’s Ghost: Mod au would be easiest. But . . ._

_Red Lioness: what?_

_High Heart’s Ghost: You might get more attention with a multi. And you could do other pairings. Like where does Jenny learn to be a top? Oh oh oh, she learns from the woods witch! And you know what that means? THREESOME!_

* * *

It was all Arya’s fault. If she hadn’t been using Sansa’s laptop and if Dad hadn’t been monitoring Arya’s Internet usage, they would never have found all of her Summerhall stuff.

What was worse was how quiet both he and Mum were being. They had made her sit at the kitchen table while they silently went through all of her WIPs document by document in the living room.

“How bad can it be?” Robb whispered while he ostensibly went to get a drink of water. 

Sansa felt the blood rushing to her face. 

“That bad?”

“Worse.”

Robb gulped the drink down and then poured more in. “Next time,” he told her in an undertone, “password-protect everything.”

“Oh my gods,” Mum yelped for the third time.

Assuming she was ever allowed to use the Internet again, Sansa would do just that.

“How did she learn how to—”

“Ned,” Mum was wailing. “I don’t know what half these words even mean.”

That probably meant they had gotten to her one foray into BDSM.

“I think that’s the last of them,” Dad finally said a deadened voice.

Okay, Sansa thought, if they had read all her drafts and the finished stories and survived the BDSM PWP, she might just get out of this alive. She might have to come out a little sooner than she had anticipated, but her parents were very liberal and maybe it would take the focus off the fic. Especially if she said she was just exploring her queerness in an impersonal, non-invasive, literarily contextual way. Sansa had no idea what that actually meant, but her parents wouldn’t either. And it wasn’t like she’d actually ever done any BDSM. She could just say she’d just read about it and it would be the truth. 

“We haven’t looked at the downloads yet,” Mum reminded him. 

Or they were going to send her to the Silent Sisters.

* * *

Archive of Our Own comment:  
JennysSong on A Whip in Her Hands and Flowers in Her Hair 12 hours ago

_This was amazing. I never in a million years would have thought I could ever ship Jenny/Lyonel, but I think you’ve made me a convert. I love how you’ve empowered her. And I can really see Lyonel as a sub. Any chance you could expand this? ___

____

* * *

Stannis read through the comments on Red Lioness’ story. Her second effort had done rather better than her first, although now that she had sent the original of that to him and had posted the edited version, he suspected the stats would improve. While readers would never praise a story for being well punctuated, he knew they appreciated it.

He was pleased to see she had incorporated almost all of his suggestions. It was a pity that she had chosen to write a mod au rather than to expand the story, but Red Lioness had explained that she had competing demands on her time. Probably exams, he thought. Most of the people in the _Summerhall_ fandom seemed to be university students. 

Red Lioness had sent his own chapters back to him quite quickly. She had extensive suggestions about some of the sex scenes between Duncan and Jenny. She corrected his blocking more than once and was able to offer him in-depth critiques of how some of these positions would feel to a woman, which since he was writing from Jenny’s POV, he found most helpful. 

For the chapter in which Duncan was drunk and forced himself on his confused wife, Red Lioness filled an entire page with such detail and with so much feeling that Stannis wondered if she wrote from personal experience. 

This felt as if they were at the beginning of a mutually beneficial writing relationship. 

“Mummy wants to know if you’re ready,” Shireen called. “She says Aunt Cersei wanted everyone there by 3:00.”

Fanfiction would have to wait. His niece’s name day took precedence.

* * *

The problem with being sober so much of the time, Robert was finding, was that family gatherings were even more unbearable than they were with the benefit of alcohol. At least this was a much more modest party than the Baratheons typically threw. A few friends, some of his family, and only Cersei’s immediate nuclear family, dinner, a cake, some gifts, and it would all be over by 8:00 ( _Summerhall_ aired at 9:00 and Cersei was determined to watch it). If the gods were good, he might even be able to sneak away with Ned to watch some Dornish-rules football in the family room.

It had taken a multitude of sessions at the therapist’s office, but he and Cersei were closer than Robert thought they had ever been. And if that was only slightly warmer than civil, it did make a change from the outright hostility that had been their normal for nearly fifteen years. But still spending any time with his in-laws was always difficult.

Ned’s brood was a smaller contingent than usual. “Robb is watching Sansa and Rickon,” Ned explained. 

Rickon, Robert could understand. The lad was a handful and worse at getting into mischief than his own three children combined, but while Robert did not pretend to be an expert at childcare, surely it made no sense for Robb to be watching over Sansa who was easily fifteen or sixteen. 

“Sansa is grounded for reading—” Arya began to explain to the combined company before her father clamped a hand over her mouth. 

“—Go play and don’t spread tales.”

As the afternoon wore on, he was gratified to learn that he wasn’t the only one with precocious children who got into trouble online. 

“—this fan fiction, I had no idea,” Catelyn was saying quietly to Selyse. “And she was writing it too! We wouldn’t have minded if the content hadn’t been so shocking.” She noticed Robert. “Fanfiction is when—”

“We know what it is,” Robert said, nodding sympathetically. “We had a bit of a scare ourselves over Tommen. He wasn’t writing it, thank the Gods.” He doubted sweet little Sansa was writing about earwax, but he’d wait till he could have a private word with Ned to warn him. 

“She’s such a good student,” Catelyn continued. “She’s in five AP-level classes. I had no idea this _Summerhall_ was so . . .”

 _Summerhall_ , Robert thought. Well, how bad could that be? He didn’t much care for the costume drama. About the only thing he could say for it was that Cersei almost always wanted to have sex afterward. But it seemed fairly harmless. It aired on PBS after all. 

“It is a very well done program,” Stannis said in a stiff voice. 

“Yes,” Cersei agreed vehemently. “The production values are excellent.”

“A highly accurate historical drama,” Stannis went on.

Gods, of course Stannis liked it, Robert thought as he rolled his eyes. Bunch of poncey men in dresses who talked all the time—with far too little in the way of battles or tourneys, and not nearly enough sex.

Catelyn seemed to realize she had made a gaffe, because she shook her head. “Oh, I know there’s nothing objectionable in the show; we’ve been watching it ourselves. That’s not the issue. We thought the stories she’d written were risqué enough, but the things she was reading. There was one involving BDSM between whatshername—”

“Jenny,” Ned added. “I forget the name of the man. The father of the girl the prince was supposed to marry.”

“Ser Lyonel?” Robert guessed, wondering why Cersei was gripping the chair back like that.

Catelyn took a sip of her drink before continuing. “I have to admit some of the stories were well written.”

“You’re joking,” Ned said. “When did our schools stop teaching the difference between your and you’re?”

“The ones by that Proudwing person were quite well done,” Catelyn objected.

Robert frowned. “‘Proudwing?’ Isn’t that what you named that bird, Stannis? The one that you nursed back to health? The one who couldn’t fly?”

The color in Stannis’ face was leaching away. He had always been touchy about the stupid thing, Robert thought. 

“The name is from a book,” Selyse contributed quietly. “And I’ve read some fanfiction too. Some of it is excellent.”

Robert could not begin to imagine what fanfiction Selyse would ever read. She was the dullest woman in Westeros with virtually no hobbies or outside interests. 

Catelyn started to answer, but something Arya was doing caught her eye and she excused herself to deal with the girl. 

Robert clapped his best friend on the shoulder and suggested they go see what was on the buffet table. He could easily lead Ned back to the family room after so they could watch the game. Both Cersei and Stannis were apparently frozen, staring at each other with mutual expressions of horror. Robert wasn’t surprised. Cersei probably was thinking of their own fanfiction scare with Tommen. And Stannis, well, Stannis, Robert thought uncharitably, was a first-class prude.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to [Vana](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Vana/pseuds/Vana) for betareading and to my other beta, [tafkar](http://archiveofourown.org/users/tafkar/pseuds/tafkar). Like Sansa, I think betas are wonderful and wonder how I ever lived without them.


End file.
